Colleges Meeting 90% and More of Financial Need

By Debbie Schwartz

Colleges Meeting 90% and More of Financial Need

By Debbie Schwartz

Published November 2, 2023

Listed below are colleges that meet 90% and more of a family’s demonstrated financial need.

This list was based solely on using publicly available Common Data Set information that schools publish on their websites.

It’s not surprising that many selective colleges are included in this list, as many of these schools promise to meet 100% of need.

In addition, there are schools that are generous with need-based aid and are not as highly selective in their admissions process.

In addition to looking at the percent of need met and the average need-based aid, data on graduation rates, % admitted, and cost of attendance, are provided.

It’s important to consider graduation rates, since each additional potential year of college adds significantly to the cost of a college education.

Keep in mind that even though a college may meet a high percentage of a family’s need, it is the college that also determines what a family’s need is.

Some schools use FAFSA to determine need, but many schools on this list ask families to fill out the CSS Profile.

The CSS Profile asks for additional information about a family’s financial situation.

Schools use this information, along with their own calculations, to determine how much a family can contribute towards college.

This amount may vary from your EFC.

Our data is based on the latest publicly available Common Data Set files that colleges publish on their websites.

Data on percent of financial need met comes from information in a college’s Common Data Set.

Not all colleges make this information public, so our college list may not be completely inclusive of all the appropriate schools.

Colleges Meeting 90% and More of Financial Need

Name	State	4 yr Grad Rate	% Ad- mitted	Avg % of Need Met	Avg Need Based Award	Cost of Attendance In-State ('22-'23)	Cost of Attendance Out-of-State ('22-'23)	Cost of Attendance Private ('22-'23)
California Institute of Technology	CA	81.28	2.69	100	$61,182			$86,886
Harvard University	MA	86.8	3.24	100	$62,252			$79,450
Columbia University	NY	88.68	3.74	100	$67,818			$81,496
Stanford University	CA	80.86	3.95	100	$59,402			$87,833
Massachusetts Institute of Technology	MA	88.47	3.96	100	$57,691			$82,730
Yale University	CT	88.15	4.57	100	$67,437			$74,150
University of Chicago	IL	89.13	5.43	100	$63,056			89,040
Brown University	RI	86.18	5.51	100	$59,749			$84,828
Princeton University	NJ	88.19	5.7	100	$61,731			$83,140
Duke University	NC	90.84	5.9	100	$62,270			$89,630
Dartmouth College	NH	84.5	6.38	100	$64,588			$87,315
University of Pennsylvania	PA	87.7	6.5	100	$54,954			$89,028
Pomona College	CA	86.25	6.64	100	$51,856			$88,296
Northeastern University	MA		6.8	100	$53,063			$86,021
Swarthmore College	PA	89.64	6.93	100	$58,439			$81,376
Northwestern University	IL	86.03	6.97	100	$61,907			$91,290
Vanderbilt University	TN	88.49	7.14	100	$63,133			$89,590
Johns Hopkins University	MD	88.87	7.24	100	$60,027			$86,065
Amherst College	MA	84.93	7.26	100	$62,236			$91,304
Cornell University	NY	89.14	7.26	100	$55,604	$66,834	$88,150
Colby College	ME	84.12	7.61	100	$63,725			$85,470
Williams College	MA	87.7	8.5	100	$61,853			$81,160
Rice University	TX	87.22	8.68	100	$57,375			$78,278
Bowdoin College	ME	88.07	9.19	100	$58,320			$85,100
Tufts University	MA	89.92	9.69	100	$54,594			$88,300
Claremont McKenna College	CA	83.18	10.35	100	$62,383			$86,500
Grinnell College	IA	84.26	10.76	100	$55,722			$82,890
Carnegie Mellon University	PA	75.84	11.3	100	$51,560			$83,697
Washington University in St. Louis	MO	88.17	11.3	100	$63,820			$83,760
Emory University	GA	82.25	11.35	100	$51,104			$83,702
Barnard College	NY	85.3	11.47	100	$61,772			$90,928
Hamilton College	NY	88.56	11.78	100	$57,037			$86,030
Georgetown University	DC	91.04	12.23	100	$48,768			$88,782
Colgate University	NY	87.73	12.43	100	$60,515			$83,814
University of Southern California	CA	78.72	12.51	100	$58,131			$90,921
Middlebury College	VT	85.31	12.69	100	$59,146			$86,880
University of Notre Dame	IN	91.3	12.91	100	$59,110			$83,271
Harvey Mudd College	CA	87.85	13.36	100	$54,020			$89,115
Wellesley College	MA	82.06	13.57	100	$64,345			$90,341
Bates College	ME	88.15	13.74	100	$54,033			$83,932
Haverford College	PA	83.09	14.21	100	$61,176			$90,382
Wesleyan University	CT	89.15	14.43	100	$65,227			$89,094
The Colorado College	CO	82.74	16.3	100	$61,809			$87,128
Carleton College	MN	87.65	16.63	100	$57,354			$84,893
Boston College	MA	87.4	14.37	100	$47,912			$89,955
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	NC	85.01	16.85	100	$16,139	$26,118	$57,370
Davidson College	NC	87.55	16.95	100	$53,152			$76,450
Washington and Lee University	VA	91.19	16.96	100	$62,138			$87,000
Pitzer College	CA	79.1	18.4	100	$46,576			$86,516
Vassar College	NY	87.41	18.66	100	$57,597			$85,220

The information is based on freshmen amounts. To see the entire number of 189 schools that meet 90% or more of financial need, create a free R2C Insights account. t

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Use R2C Insights to help find merit aid and schools that fit the criteria most important to your student. You’ll not only save precious time, but your student will avoid the heartache of applying to schools they aren’t likely to get into or can’t afford to attend.

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